Tower Tales
by HiImDelta
Summary: A group of short stories of various genres that are based mainly around the idea of the daily life of various guardians and characters in the Tower, with some other stories here and there. Will be updated whenever I am able. Cover art by philosophicalbutts on Tumblr.
1. Super-Duper

Super-Duper

"Welcome, Guardians. You've come a long way since your revival." Commander Zavala addressed the small group of young Guardians standing at attention before him. "You still have a long way to go. Destiny is not a single challenge, but a series of steps. And today, you will climb one of those many steps."

The small team all had their helmets on, and though, from the outside, they seemed to be emotionless, many of them were grinning widely underneath their mouthpiece. They all shared a single thought: _Today is the day._

"Today," Zavala paused for a second and stared straight at the team as though he was somehow making eye contact with each Guardian simultaneously. "you learn your super." Their grins widened at the sound of those words. The guardians had, of course, heard of the "super." They all knew the tales of the flaming hammers, and electric blades, and giant black orbs of death. Technically, the Guardians could already use their super as it is a skill that is inherent in each upon their revival. However, because of the sheer power of super, ghosts were required to inhibit the ability until the guardian had completed this training. This is because the lesson wasn't meant to teach a Guardian how to activate and use their super, rather, it was a lesson on how to _control_ it.

"Now, each of you should already know how to use your super."

"Keyword: 'should'," Cayde-6 said as he walked in. The class turned to watch him as he took his place, leaning against a wall in the training room. He wasn't there to teach the class but to observe it. He tried to observe as many sessions of this particular lesson as possible. Whenever he's asked about it, he replies that he goes there to "Watch the fun."

"As I was saying," The Guardians' gazes returned to the Titan as he resumed his teaching. "The key to controlling your super is to channel the energy either outward, or to an outside object. Rather than channeling the light inward to create power, the super is a tremendous amount of Light channeled not through you, but from you. Do not allow that much power to be stored in your body, as you will not be able to handle it. For defenders, strikers, voidwalkers, and stormcallers, your energy must be channeled outward. Sunbreakers, sunsingers, gunslingers, and bladedancers channel the energy into an object, such as the arcblade, or, in sunsinger's case, their armor."

One hunter raised their hand. "Yes?"

"Umm... What about nightstalkers?"

"Nightstalkers are..."

"Weird." Cayde finished. "Unlike the other hunters, you do not imbue a weapon with power, you create the weapon. Once you do, however, you must fire it as soon as possible. Holding the arrow for too long will store up too much energy."

"Now, this may seem dangerous, but with enough training, you'll be able to deploy your super at any time. So, let's get started. First group." A fireteam of three stepped up, taking their place in the middle of the large training room floor. "Ghosts, deactivate the inhibitor. Go ahead."

All three guardians activated their supers at once. "Oh my god! My gun is on fire!"

"Dude?" Another member, a warlock showed himself off. His entire body was engulfed in flames, with a pair of wings made completely of fire had appeared on his back.

"Okay, you win." The hunter said, disappointed.

"Umm..." The final member, a titan, was flailing her arms outward, trying her best to create her dome shield. "Mine's not working."

"Figure it out!" The hunter advised her.

"Gunslinger!" Zavala called. "Don't just stand there twirling it around! Fire your weapon!"

"Oh right." The hunter took aim at the one of the target dummies standing opposite of him. But as soon as he fired the trigger, a round purple wall appeared in front of him. The bullet ricocheted off the dome and landed at his feet, creating an explosion that sent him flying upward.

"Got it!" The titan exclaimed, proud of herself.

"Good job." The Warlock congratulated as he juggled grenades in his hands.

The hunter landed face first, and as he was getting up, the dome disappeared, along with the fire that had engulfed the warlock's armor.

The rest of the students were laughing quietly to themselves. Cayde took a less settle approach, laughing wildly in his corner.

Zavala rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Okay, how about we try this one at a time."

The next one up was a striker, who managed to activate his quickly, but wasn't able to get the aim down. Fortunately, the guardians behind him were able to move out of the way in time. Unfortunately, the wall behind them was not able to move, and was gifted a rather large hole.

After that, a voidwalker, who held his Nova Bomb too long until he was holding a large orb with a radius twice his height. Zavala upon realizing the situation ran up and activated his own dome shield, causing the nova bomb to explode. The dome was quickly filled with void substance and smoke, with the warlock becoming unconscious inside.

After that, a stormcaller, who was able to activate and control her power quite well, though Zavala became concerned and stopped the warlock when she started laughing maniacally.

Eventually, every student got a turn to come up and inevitably fail. But this was the way it was taught, failing many times until success is achieved. After all the students had gotten a chance, Zavala dismissed them. By this time, Cayde was on the floor laughing as hard as he could.

The titan commander walked over to his fellow vanguard and stood over him, waiting patiently. After a couple seconds, the hunter rose, still chuckling.

"You laugh, but if I remember right, you weren't much better. You almost short-circuited yourself while attempting to unsheathe your arcblade, did you not?"

This shut the hunter up. "Oh and sure you were perfect? The wall caught every hammer you threw."

"Indeed. But at least I was able to draw my weapon." He reminded his friend.

The awoken returned to his place at the center of the room as the next group of 'victims', as Cayde referred to them, filed in, grins under their helmets.

"Welcome Guardians."

* * *

A/N I'm doing a new thing where if you review, you get a preview of the next tale in the form of the first 400 words (rounded up to the nearest whole sentence) in a PM as soon as they're written. So... yeah. Keep in mind that guest reviewers will not get previews since I can't PM them.


	2. The Birth of a Sport

The Birth of a Sport

* * *

"I can't believe you."

"Is that jealousy I hear?"

"More like disappointment."

"What do you mean?"

"How much?"

"How much horsepower?" The titan said confidently, trying to avoid the question.

"How much did it cost?"

The titan hesitated, knowing his answer would only hurt his case.

"Fifty thousand glimmer." He mumbled quietly.

"What's that? I couldn't hear you?" The warlock continued taunting.

" _I believe he said fifty thousand glimmer."_ The warlock's ghost stated.

"Fifty thousand?! Your armor cost less than that!"

"Who cares? It's worth it." The titan slid his gloved hand across the chassis of his new machine.

"For a sparrow?"

The titan turned defensive. "Hey. It's not just any sparrow. It's a timebreaker."

"More like a bank breaker. What's the point?"

"It's fast. Faster than any other sparrow."

"Speed isn't everything. I've heard the thing handles like crap. My sharp turner could still outrace you, and I didn't spend an armory's worth of glimmer on mine."

"Is that a bet?"

"You'd have to have money to place a bet."

"I still got some. Five thousand says my baby outruns your hunk-of-junk."

"Deal." The warlock pressed a button on his helmet and a black sparrow materialized in front of him.

"Wait. We're racing here?" The titan asked as he watched the warlock get on the newly formed sparrow.

"What's the matter? You scared of all those corners?"

"No."

"Then mount up guardian, before I start without you."

The titan hesitated but mounted up onto his newly bought sparrow.

"What's the track?"

"Here to the lounge, then back to the elevator on the far end of the residence hall, then down to the lobby. First one out the door gets the glimmer. Ghost, give us a countdown."

" _I don't like this. But I suppose I don't really have a choice, do I?"_

"Nope."

" _Three... Two... One... Go."_

The timebreaker shot ahead using its boost. Both were quick, though, and within seconds they were past the archway, leaping grandly over the stairs, and landing in the middle of the Tower hub area.

The black sparrow turned sharply to the left, on his way into the garage. Meanwhile, the timebreaker was forced to brake in order to turn in time, sacrificing his lead. The black sparrow weaved its way through the garage, with the timebreaker slowly catching up. By the time they passed Holiday's station, they were neck and neck.

Meanwhile, the racers had reached the lounge area, and despite their handling differences, both took a few seconds to turn around fully in the small area.

The black sparrow was the first to set off, but once again, the timebreaker's boost allowed it to take the lead.

The two raced through the hall to tower north. The large circular door opened and the timebreaker, who had managed to overtake once again, slipped through, the warlock close behind.

The two raced through the residence hall, dodging the occasional unarmored guardian. The warlock took the lead in the corners while the titan moved ahead in the straights.

They reached the, fortunately, empty elevator, simultaneously slamming into the back of it. The elevator slowly descended dozens of floors, a small tune playing in the background.

The warlock looked beside him at his opponent. "Well. This is awkward."

Before the titan could reply, a tone rang out and the doors opened. The guardians shot out of the elevator, making their way through the halls of the first floor.

As they came down the last hall before the lobby, the black sparrow was ahead. The titan took advantage of the long hallway, hitting his boost. As they rounded the final corner, they were neck and neck, with the titan still pushing his boost. But as they entered the lobby, they discovered one thing stood between them and the finish line.

"Vanguard!" The warlock shouted, hitting a button on the sparrow. In an instant, the vehicle dematerialized, leaving the guardian skidding across the lobby floor.

The titan, however, could do no such thing. "I can't stop!" The titan shouted. A prolonged boost caused his sparrow to fall apart. Luckily, it missed the vanguard and hitting the wall behind her, exploding rather unceremoniously.

The warlock skidded to a stop, landing just in front of his mentor. He looked up at Ikora's face, expecting surprise. However, he saw only disappointment. "Ma'am." The warlock smiled up at the vanguard.

"Having fun?" Ikora asked.

"Yes, ma'am." The warlock replied, still on the ground.

"What on Earth, Venus, and Mars are you even doing?"

The warlock thought for a minute, trying to come up with a reply that wouldn't get him in trouble. Unable to think of one, he went for humor.

"We're making a new sport."

Ikora sighed, walking past the warlock and activating her comm. "Amanda? I need to order a sign. 'No racing in the tower.'"

The warlock rose from the ground brushing himself off and walking over to the wreckage of the titan's sparrow. Upon finding the titan in a heap on the ground, the warlock held out his hand and helping the guardian up.

"Nothing like a fifty thousand glimmer wreck."

The titan grunted as he rose. "Yeah, well, at least I won."

"What do you mean you won?"

"I got farthest," He stated as they walked back toward the elevator.

"So? You didn't go out the door."

They both stopped dead in their tracks, as they simultaneously realized something.

Neither had crossed the finish line. The race was still on.

They both sprinted towards the door, the warlock thinking more and more about how true his excuse could be.


End file.
